I get the feeling the last few years the man has taken his opinion of his own ability too far and it really shows in the playoffs against good teams. New England has been pounded and dominated the last 2 years against less than stellar opposition.

when you look at the Belichik approach to teambuilding it's obvious he wants 3 things:

1. He doesn't want to pay anybody

2. He doesn't want to deal with distractions

3. He'd rather win with overachievers who won't question anything than talented players who might be apt to open their mouths.

Take this years draft and personnel moves. He likely knew Moss's days were numbered but he still passed on every available upper tier receiving threat. Can you tell me New England's offense couldn't use a Dez Bryant? I believe his receivers had 1 catch yesterday. Also look at his outside pass rushers. In the last 2 years New England has passed on countless quality pass rushers in the draft, in favor of lugs like Jermaine Cunningham. They didn't have a single sack on the QB yesterday and that's inexcusable considering the quantity of draft picks they've had the last few years.

Belchik seems to forget he was able to win superbowls because he had playmakers like Corey Dillon, Richard Seymour, and Rodney Harrison - 3 of the better players and 3 of the more explosive personalities in the league.

Playing with a team full of choirboys next to a hall of fame QB might get you into the playoffs consistently, but to win you need playmakers.

heh, its interesting how everyone acts as if the Patriots are some awful team now. They have basically become the Yankees, Lakers, or Red Sox. Victims of their own success. I would kill for the Chiefs to have a run like they have had over the past 10 years.

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Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning:

Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down.

Hightower, Solder, Ridley/Vereen, Gronk, Hernandez, McCourty. Chandler Jones has upside. Added Talib off waivers. The team is a solid team all the way around. Of course their success post-Brady will be dependent on how good his replacement is, but that's sadly the new NFL. Every coach is going to be a product of the QB. Again, it will depend on how stubborn Bellichick is on applying the Parcells way to finding late round QB steals.

He said defense.

And with all of those picks.....he hasn't drafted one impactful WR for Brady.

And with all of those picks.....he hasn't drafted one impactful WR for Brady.

No, he just drafted two monster TEs for him, and he probably realized that he can find smart, veteran receivers through FA and trade and spend his picks on players that don't come onto the market as often.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

You don't have a goddamn chance over the next two years with Manning at the helm, so build your ****ing team to be a ****ing dynasty when he retires. Instead, you're going to spend the two most valuable picks in franchise history on a RT and a game manager QB.

Niko and Chandler Jones (who was injured) are solid guys off the edge. Not top tier but solid.

They need to IMO upgrad significantly at corner whilst keeping Talib, draft Hunt who can rush the passer from the 3-tech, and get another pass rushing OLB.

Additionally, they need to send more than 4 guys consistently and in a more creative way.

Hamas brings up a good point, though. I like that Bellichick is the only damn guy in the Parcells tree who seems to understand that the 2-gap 3-4 is outdated. So he moved to a 4-3, which was a good move. Putting Donta Hightower at OLB is a bit of a curious move. They essentially have 5 bigs, and Jerod Mayo isn't the fast kind of OLB they need to balance out that much big.